Elsie Stig loved the market. She took a deep breath of the fishy, sweaty air that surrounded her. To any of the other market-goers, the smell was unpleasant and stuffy, but for Elsie it was as refreshing as a cool breeze. It was her first time out of the Goblin Tunnels, and she was about to make the most of it. Elsie adjusted the Blast Armor she had worn under her disguise, trying to relieve the pinching feeling where the armor met the base of her arms.
Pushing her way through the crowded market, Elsie revealed in the vendors aggressively hocking their cheap trinkets, the dead fish swimming in ice melted by the midday sun, and the colors. Elsie loved colors. She loved the people’s colorful clothing, the local art filled with bright, vibrant colors. Her eyes were bright with joy as she strolled through to the edge of the market, and looked out to the aqua sea under a blanket of azure.
Goblins weren’t supposed to go this far according to most of the elders, but not everyone payed attention to them anyway. She figured she could pass for a child if she wore a mask and some baggy clothes she made in her shop. She took care not to sew any runes into her clothes this time for fear of combustion in the streets.
Elsie watched as a big vessel sat in the ocean, unmoving to the tides that rolled across the rest of the horizon. The vessel was adorned with a title she did not recognize, “USS Wisconsin”. Her peaceful trance was shattered by a tall man who bumped into her, knocking her flat on her back. The man’s brisk pace took Elsie’s mask with it, skipping down the street.
“What is the matter with you kids! Running around causing trouble all over the place!” The man yelled at a dazed Elsie, still sprawled on the pavement. Elsie quickly regained her senses, only to cast them to the seas in rage. Elsie grabbed the man’s pant leg as though it were the scruff of his shirt, turned her face to the blinding sun and began berating the man.
“What’s the matter with YOU buddy?! Are ya blind, or just plain stupid?! I oughta-” As Elsie continued to demean the man, throwing insults at him, his attire, and his mother, she felt some pride as she noticed him grow pale and speechless so quickly. In her immense self-pride, she even added some insults about his children, not stopping to ask if he had any to insult in the first place. After a good few minutes of ceaseless verbal abuse, surprisingly unnoticed amongst the other hubbub of the market, Elsie threw one more slur about the man’s heritage, and took a step back to admire his colorless face.
After a long pause, the man replied “You… you’re… green!” It was the single worst insult Elsie had heard in her life. It was such a poor insult, Elsie wondered if it was an insult at all. It was then that she realized who she was, who he was, and where they were. Elsie looked behind her to see her mask still staring at the ocean, as though it had not at all been affected by the events of the last few minutes. Elsie was about to run to it and inform it of the danger it had put her in by leaving, but the man caught her arm before she could escape.
“You! You’re… you can’t possibly be a… goblin?” The words fell clumsily out of his mouth. He was lucky they were even in the right order as they did. Elsie had to think quick, it was only a matter of time before the words he threw out became coherent and she was sure that he would not be kind enough to ignore someone who had just hurled incestuous accusations.
After another in a series of long pauses, Elsie carefully replied, “No.” The man stood baffled.
“But, your skin-” the man tried to reason, only to be interrupted by a now indignant Elsie.
“What about my skin? You never saw a gal with a skin problem?”
“Your ears!”
“Oh and now you’re making fun of my ears too? Your nose ain’t too small and ya don’t hear me making fun of ya!” He had, as she did not spare his nose in the earlier hurricane of insults. However, he was still in shock and was unable to make this connection. In what has now become a trilogy of long pauses, the man weighed what this girl was telling him. He stared at her, still holding her arm as if he had made a cast and replaced his actual arm with a statue.
“Of course… silly me…” he said, slowly regaining his composure. Children have different skin colors all the time, he reasoned with himself. He would be wrong to discriminate just because this child was different from others he had seen. In fact, this was a terrible scene for him to be caught in in the first place! To think that he would throw such accusations at a child, while holding them against their will! What would his co-workers think? What would his boss think?
He released Elsie’s arm and apologized. He began fishing for a contact card in his suit jacket pocket, and handed one to her. She read so much as “Derek Hall” before he snatched it back, thinking better of giving a strange child his contact information after having grabbed her arm forcefully in public.
Elsie strolled up to her mask, still lying indifferent to the entire scene, and once again assumed her disguise before anyone else began to notice her existence. She then went back into the market to buy a pendant with a rune etched into it to remember her trip. Elsie Stig loved the market.
Pushing her way through the crowded market, Elsie revealed in the vendors aggressively hocking their cheap trinkets, the dead fish swimming in ice melted by the midday sun, and the colors. Elsie loved colors. She loved the people’s colorful clothing, the local art filled with bright, vibrant colors. Her eyes were bright with joy as she strolled through to the edge of the market, and looked out to the aqua sea under a blanket of azure.
Goblins weren’t supposed to go this far according to most of the elders, but not everyone payed attention to them anyway. She figured she could pass for a child if she wore a mask and some baggy clothes she made in her shop. She took care not to sew any runes into her clothes this time for fear of combustion in the streets.
Elsie watched as a big vessel sat in the ocean, unmoving to the tides that rolled across the rest of the horizon. The vessel was adorned with a title she did not recognize, “USS Wisconsin”. Her peaceful trance was shattered by a tall man who bumped into her, knocking her flat on her back. The man’s brisk pace took Elsie’s mask with it, skipping down the street.
“What is the matter with you kids! Running around causing trouble all over the place!” The man yelled at a dazed Elsie, still sprawled on the pavement. Elsie quickly regained her senses, only to cast them to the seas in rage. Elsie grabbed the man’s pant leg as though it were the scruff of his shirt, turned her face to the blinding sun and began berating the man.
“What’s the matter with YOU buddy?! Are ya blind, or just plain stupid?! I oughta-” As Elsie continued to demean the man, throwing insults at him, his attire, and his mother, she felt some pride as she noticed him grow pale and speechless so quickly. In her immense self-pride, she even added some insults about his children, not stopping to ask if he had any to insult in the first place. After a good few minutes of ceaseless verbal abuse, surprisingly unnoticed amongst the other hubbub of the market, Elsie threw one more slur about the man’s heritage, and took a step back to admire his colorless face.
After a long pause, the man replied “You… you’re… green!” It was the single worst insult Elsie had heard in her life. It was such a poor insult, Elsie wondered if it was an insult at all. It was then that she realized who she was, who he was, and where they were. Elsie looked behind her to see her mask still staring at the ocean, as though it had not at all been affected by the events of the last few minutes. Elsie was about to run to it and inform it of the danger it had put her in by leaving, but the man caught her arm before she could escape.
“You! You’re… you can’t possibly be a… goblin?” The words fell clumsily out of his mouth. He was lucky they were even in the right order as they did. Elsie had to think quick, it was only a matter of time before the words he threw out became coherent and she was sure that he would not be kind enough to ignore someone who had just hurled incestuous accusations.
After another in a series of long pauses, Elsie carefully replied, “No.” The man stood baffled.
“But, your skin-” the man tried to reason, only to be interrupted by a now indignant Elsie.
“What about my skin? You never saw a gal with a skin problem?”
“Your ears!”
“Oh and now you’re making fun of my ears too? Your nose ain’t too small and ya don’t hear me making fun of ya!” He had, as she did not spare his nose in the earlier hurricane of insults. However, he was still in shock and was unable to make this connection. In what has now become a trilogy of long pauses, the man weighed what this girl was telling him. He stared at her, still holding her arm as if he had made a cast and replaced his actual arm with a statue.
“Of course… silly me…” he said, slowly regaining his composure. Children have different skin colors all the time, he reasoned with himself. He would be wrong to discriminate just because this child was different from others he had seen. In fact, this was a terrible scene for him to be caught in in the first place! To think that he would throw such accusations at a child, while holding them against their will! What would his co-workers think? What would his boss think?
He released Elsie’s arm and apologized. He began fishing for a contact card in his suit jacket pocket, and handed one to her. She read so much as “Derek Hall” before he snatched it back, thinking better of giving a strange child his contact information after having grabbed her arm forcefully in public.
Elsie strolled up to her mask, still lying indifferent to the entire scene, and once again assumed her disguise before anyone else began to notice her existence. She then went back into the market to buy a pendant with a rune etched into it to remember her trip. Elsie Stig loved the market.